How to buy a leather bag on a budget

I’ve been following Permanent Style for a while now, as well as investing significantly more of my time trying to learn more about menswear.

As my style has evolved and I find myself wearing a blazer or sportcoat more often, I’m really struggling with bags. As a postgraduate student, I lug around a laptop and lunch everyday, and apart from looking bad, I really worry about the backpack pulling on the shoulders of my jackets and damaging them.

I wondered if you had any recommendations for leather briefcases? Searching around your site I have spotted a few I like the look of, however, I think that £800+ is more than I want to spend on a bag at the moment. I’m looking to spend up to about £500 and I wondered if there were any go-to brands for this slightly lower price bracket?

On a somewhat related note – what kind of frame of mind do you approach buying clothes and accessories with? As I get a bit older (I’m 22) I find it increasingly unsatisfying and untrue to say “I can’t afford things”, but find it equally frustrating to admit that I’m just not prepared to pay enough to buy a Dunhill bag or a Brioni blazer! I just wondered if you could share any thoughts or wisdom about this problem, silly as it is.

Thanks for your time, and all the best.

David Beckingsale

Hi David,

Men generally don’t spend enough on bags, in the same way as they rarely spend enough on shoes. Both can make an outfit on their own; both look better with age; both repay investment over a long period of time; and you only need a small number of them – probably just two bags in your lifetime: a day bag and a weekender.

That said, £500 is still a lot of money and a good amount to spend on a bag. Most of the bags I talk about are real luxury items, from Hermès, Bown or Tanner Krolle. The thing that sets them apart is the hand-sewing of all the seams. Like the sole on a bespoke shoe, this will make them last longer. But you pay a disproportionate amount for that work.

So the first way to save money is to buy machine-sewn bags. Dunhill, for example, has its Tradition line, which is hand-sewn in London. But it also has a much cheaper line which is not. The Single Zip Bourdon briefcase is beautiful and only a little more than you were planning to spend at £595.

The other way to save money is to introduce a material other than leather. Dunhill’s Saltaire range, for example, is mostly canvas with leather trims. I’m a big fan of J Panther Luggage – their Ruc Tote is very versatile. And Bill Amberg makes some great machine-sewn bags: there is a version of the Jag in leather and cordura, or one at £495 that mixes in perforated leather.

To your last point, what you can afford all depends on what period of time you apply. I tend to save up for a big purchase for 2-5 months, pay for half of it with that money, and use a credit card for the rest (which I will pay off over another 2-5 months). In a consumer culture like ours, the hard thing is often not saving money to buy something, but going for years after that without any retail hit. Master that, and you’re halfway there.

I don’t think canvas or any non-leather material ages with the same grace as leather. I would personally save up a bit longer or simply get a “cheaper” leather bag, which of course demands some extra pre-purchase research.

Don’t misunderstand “hand-sewing”. Marketing is always here. Even in Hermès, “hand-sewing” is “machine-sewn by a person” in the case of long, straight seams. Only finishes, stops, technical assemblies and few things are really “hand-sewn” (clamp, saddle stitch). Hermes belts (reversible) are machine-sewn for example. I know about it, trust me! But very well machine-sewn regarding other brands.You also have to consider the leather quality and the “inside” that nobody can see. A lot of know-how to strengthen, rigidify, structure that give the smartness.Last but not least the quality of buckles, fasteners, zippers… (metal+high quality coatings) that last very long.And : Designed to be repaired!

I think that’s a little misleading as regards Hermes. Yes, the belts are sewn by machine, but almost every aspect of the bags is sewn with a saddle stitch. I have watched them being made in Paris and being made and repaired in London. The handwork is to the point of being needless, particularly on long, straight seams.

Dear DavidMay i give you sone advice from someone, like you, who knows little about clothes/luggage but, loves quality.I purchased a bridal leather bag some years ago from a wonderful shop in London called Fox’s, now closed. I was lucky enough to get a great discount as they were closing down but, despite this in my mind what i really wanted was a bag from Swaine and Adney. Whilst i am delighted with the bag which will last for ever (i hope) and, which i receive many, many compliments about it, i regret the purchase and wish i had saved my money a little longer to get what i really wanted.It is just as Simon says, buy top quality and it will last forever and more importantly, will give you great satisfaction every time you use it.I would also like to mention that in the world that we now live, luxury items are extremely over-priced for what they are (in this case they are simply just leather after all) but, we at their mercy when we need to purchase such items and there lays the problem.Think carefullyGood luckBradley

Hi Simon, As an interview briefcase/investment piece, would you recommend getting a Dunhill Tradition Single Document briefcase, a Dunhill Tradition Double Document briefcase, a Swaine Adeney Whitehall, or a J. Panther Courier Ruc Case? Which color would you recommend? Is the courier ruc case hand stitched, and have the same quality of construction as the other three? Thank you.

The courier run is not the same level as the others, no, in materials or stitching. The others are all fairly similar, and I guess it’s a case of which style you prefer and how you will use it (eg how much you carry most days)?

What would you advise, for someone on the sort of budget discussed here (say £600 or so), between buying a second hand leather work bag that has had a bit of damage and scratching from a superior make (Swaine or Ettinger maybe), versus buying something new from a cheaper brand?